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A White House Visit: The Politics of Kids
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I recently attended a White House event. After showing my identification, guards confirmed my name on the guest list, and I walked into the East Room where the president and Mrs. Obama shared comments with me. Okay, me and 150 other people, as well as the White House press pool. After their remarks, I met with various White House staff and discussed reaching out to children. Seventy-five minutes after entering our nation's most important residence, I stood in a cold breeze on Pennsylvania Avenue and tried to gather my thoughts. My visit had no connections with popular and polarizing debates over stimulus packages, bailout funds, war, healthcare reform, and the recent Massachusetts election. Instead, I pursued the politics of kids. The what? The politics of kids: what's truly important for our nation's children. I learned plenty during my visit. Let's go back in the White House and I'll explain. Created, in part, to recognize National Mentoring Month, the event took place on January 20, and it brought together about 30 mentoring organizations from across the country. The invitation to attend came as quite an honor and opportunity for Kids Hope USA. Attending with me were one of our church program directors, a mentor, and the young boy the mentor meets with every week. As the four of us made our way out of a security checkpoint and faced the east entrance to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, our seven-year-old companion spoke for all of us when he exclaimed, "Wow—this is sure a big house!" The East Room reminded me of a hotel ballroom—a ballroom that included lot of television cameramen, photographers, and reporters focused on the words delivered by the First Lady and President Obama. Some people like the president and his wife, some don't. For anyone involved with reaching out to children, though, the words they shared—with no policy positioning attached—showed a piece of common ground everyone can claim as important. Especially everyone who loves children. "People are doing [mentoring] because they want to be part of your lives," Michelle Obama said to mentees. "They want to hear about your hopes and dreams and your passions and your struggles. They are here because they believe in your potential … each of us has the ability to move beyond the circumstances we were born into." I'm certain every mentor agreed with her words. "We know the difference a responsible, caring adult can make in a child's life," said the president, " … being that person in their lives who doesn't want to let them down, and that they don't want to let down; and refusing to give up on them—even when they want to give up on themselves." More agreement. The common ground between the White House and the attendees: The need children possess for a caring adult to extend a loving hand. That's the politics of kids. |
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